1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a joystick device in which an operation shaft having one end to which an operation knob is coupled is supported by a case to be tiltable from a neutral position about a tilting center set on an axis of the operation shaft, a cylindrical rotatable cylinder having one end joined to a dial knob and surrounding the operation shaft is supported by the case to be rotatable about the axis, and rotation position detection means for detecting a rotation position of the rotatable cylinder is provided between the other end portion of the rotatable cylinder and the case.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a joystick device is already known from, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-122290.
Meanwhile, in the joystick device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-122290, the rotation position detection means for detecting the rotation position of a rotatable cylinder having one end to which a dial knob is joined includes: multiple light-shielding portions provided on the other end portion of the rotatable cylinder and arranged at regular intervals in a peripheral direction of the rotatable cylinder; and a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element which are arranged in such a manner that the light-shielding portions pass between the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element. For this reason, a space for arranging the light-emitting element or the light-receiving element needs to be secured inside the rotatable cylinder on the other end side, and thus there arises a limitation on arrangement of the other components to be arranged in the other end portion of the rotatable cylinder. Hence, if configuration is employed in which a rotation position of the rotatable cylinder is detected by a magnetic sensor by detecting positional change relative to multiple magnets provided on the other end side of the rotatable cylinder, a larger space can be secured as the space for arranging the other components in the other end portion of the rotatable cylinder. With the above-described configuration in which the magnetic sensor is arranged directly facing the other end portion of the rotatable cylinder, however, a position for arranging the magnetic sensor is limited in an axial direction of the rotatable cylinder. Thus, it is hard to say that the configuration has a high degree of design freedom, and the rotatable cylinder requires a large number of magnets.